Unpacking
by skippingmud
Summary: (One-shot) A trainer unpacks his bag with the help of a friend.


"Hey, uhh, can you stay and help me?"

"Help you with what?"

"Well, with, uhmm, unpacking."

"What?"

"With unpacking my bag. Because, well, I won't need it anymore since—"

"I heard you the first time. But what do you need my help for? It's such a small bag."

"Oh, nothing. I just thought you were okay with staying over a bit more."

"I mean, yeah, I am, but…"

"And my room's much cozier than the Center."

"Of course it is."

"It'll be a lot less lonelier if I wasn't alone in unpacking, and it'd be nice to have someone to talk to, and—"

"Alright, alright, I'll stay. You don't need to get all dramatic about it."

"Really? You don't have to go back to the Center?"

"Nah, they can handle it. There's not much happening at this time of day anyway. They won't need more than two nurses."

"Thanks, Sal. That means a lot."

"Oh, come on, Ken. Don't be like that. It's just a bag."

"It's not just a bag. It's my trainer bag! It was as essential to my journey as Ampere!"

"Okay, okay, it's a special bag."

"Probably the most special bag in all of Unova!"

"Let's not go that far. So what's inside the bag?"

"Well, there's the usual trainer gear, which I could probably sell for some extra cash. But there's also... uhmm, where is it, I thought I—oh, this!"

"A case for your glasses?"

"No, no, it's my badge case!"

"Oh, that's right. You went for the gym circuit. How many badges did you get?"

"Four."

"Whoa, talk about being an overachiever! Obviously you battled Clay since he's right next door, but how far did you go?"

"Actually, I didn't battle Clay. Ampere's Electric-type attacks wouldn't have done a thing to Clay's Ground-types, so I told myself I'd challenge him when we were strong enough to overcome that weakness. And I didn't want to go through Chargestone Cave since that would've been way too much for us. So I crossed Driftveil Bridge and worked my way from there."

"Ooh, so you went through the big cities first?"

"Yeah! I can see why Clay wants to turn Driftveil into a tourist hub. Nimbasa makes you feel so alive with the stadiums and the subway and the theme park. And Castelia? Man oh man, where do I even begin?"

"Hah, I get you. Part of me wants to work in the Castelia Pokémon Center coz it'll give me the most experience as a nurse. But a bigger part of me knows I'll never have downtimes like this if I work there."

"But hey, if Clay pushes through with his plans to develop Driftveil, you'll be as busy as the nurses in Castelia."

"Yeah, that's true… But anyway, I didn't ditch my job just to talk about my job. How did the gym battles go?"

"They were great, and I get why so many trainers wanna take on the gym circuit. My first gym battle was really memorable."

"Ooh, was it against Elesa? I hear she's a real tough trainer!"

"She was. And Ampere didn't want to embarrass himself by losing to his fellow Emolga, so he gave it his all against it. But we had to work extra hard to defeat her Blitzle. I don't think I would've won if she used her Zebstrika instead, but hey, we did beat her! Elesa told me that I was one of the few trainers who beat her the first time, so that was an ego boost I didn't expect to get!"

"Wait, so you're telling me you're actually one of those training prodigies?"

"No way! That win against Elesa was pure beginner's luck. And the next three gym battles proved that. I thought I got lucky in the Striaton Gym by having to battle Cress, whose Simipour was weak to Ampere's Electric-type attacks. But it took me seven whole tries before I finally got that Trio Badge."

"Wait, seven whole tries? I would've given up by the fourth!"

"I thought I would, too, but I could feel it in Ampere that he really wanted to beat that Simipour. Thinking about it, I kept on going for him, really, even if it took seven tries."

"So what made the seventh try different from the others?"

"Well, I used this… and this… and a whole lot of this…"

"Potions and vitamins? Really?"

"I know, I know. When I started my journey, I told myself I'd never use them in battles like that. They were cheap ways of winning, and it defeated the purpose of learning from battles. Plus, Ampere didn't like the taste of some of them, especially the Carbos.

"But beating Cress—I got desperate, okay? Like I said, it was the seventh try, and Ampere's frustration only made mine much worse. That was a whole week of thinking about how we could beat that damn Simipour."

"Heh, I can only imagine how you felt when you finally beat it!"

"Well, to be honest, it didn't feel nice at all."

"Huh? Why?"

"The whole potion thing spoiled the win for us. When Cress gave me the Trio Badge, I knew I didn't earn it the right way. It was the first time I felt like I didn't deserve to be Ampere's trainer, so much so that, well–"

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself! You're not the only trainer in the world who uses items in battle, you know. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I guess… Yeah, I can't do anything about it now that it's happened, right?"

"Right."

"Right. Okay, what else is in here… Oh?"

"What is it?"

"Huh, I thought I threw this away…"

"Can I see? Oh! Is that a Leaf Stone?"

"Yeah."

"And you're gonna tell me why you have one, right?"

"Hah, of course. But, well, it's a little embarrassing…"

"Really? You're gonna be embarrassed about telling me something? After all we've been through?"

"And I thought I was the dramatic one. Well, it took me seven tries to beat Cress, right?"

"Yeah."

"I was planning on catching a Pansage and evolving it just for that battle."

"Hah. So you wanted to beat him at his own game?"

"Kinda, yeah. This was around my fourth or fifth loss against Cress. I figured, maybe these guys were giving me a hint with the kind of Pokémon they were using. Maybe I needed to catch my own Simisage or Simisear or Simipour so I could stand a chance against theirs."

"Makes sense. But why didn't you go through with using it?"

"Well, I didn't use the Leaf Stone because I didn't catch a Pansage."

"Huh?"

"It was just a knee-jerk thing when I bought the Leaf Stone off some merchant who just happened to past by Striaton. I thought, hey, I could have a strong teammate to beat that damn Simipour just for 5,000 Poké? Seemed like a steal to me. And the merchant sure erased all my doubts with his smooth-talking.

"But right after I bought the stone, I asked myself, was I really willing to add another teammate just for one badge? When I caught Ampere, I was determined to complete the gym circuit with him and him alone."

"Oh, so you weren't planning to have a full team of six?"

"Nope. Not even a team of two. I know, I know, all those experts on TV say that trainers should have a well-balanced team with several Pokémon covering each other's weaknesses and blah blah blah. But I don't think any other Pokémon would've come close to Ampere's awesomeness. If you already have the most awesome Pokémon in the world, what else do you need?"

"Heh, I can't argue with that."

"And I did everything I could to let Ampere know just how freaking awesome he is. I spoiled him rotten! I bought him, oh, here, a lot of these Casteliacones because it was his favorite, and I would always reward him with one when he won in battle. I'd give him a whole bunch when we beat someone strong like a gym leader!"

"That's really sweet of you."

"That's not even the end of it. We were about to leave Castelia and head to Nacrene when we passed by this merchant who was selling these Poké Dolls that looked like he made them himself. They were all really nice, but when I saw this, it was an instant purchase."

"Aw! That's so cute! It looks just like a real Emolga!"

"Ampere thought so too. He wouldn't let go of it once he got his hands on it! I always liked watching him drift off to sleep since he would hug this doll so tightly. But it doesn't stop there! When we got to Nacrene, I also got him—"

"…Ken?"

"I… g-got him…"

"Ken? Is something wrong?"

"N-no, it's just… uhmm…"

"Ken, what is it?"

"It's… w-well…"

"Ken, is that Ampere's Poké Ball?"

"Y-yeah."

"Ken, it's okay. It's okay to feel bad about it. It's okay to admit that you miss him."

"B-but… I shouldn't…"

"What?"

"I shouldn't feel bad. I should feel good about re— about it."

"What? Why?"

"In Accumula, I attended this rally where there were these people wearing white armor or something ridiculous like that. I didn't think much of it, but then this tall, green-haired man took the stage and spoke about, well, about liberating Pokémon."

"Liberating Pokémon?"

"Letting them go. Setting them free. Separating them from cruel humans like me."

"Ken, you know you aren't cruel–"

"No, I am. Think about it. When I caught him in Route 6, I took him away from his family for my own selfish reasons. When I made him battle Cress's Simipour again and again, I was subjecting him to so much pain just for a stupid badge. No matter how many Casteliacones I gave him, no matter how many Emolga Poké Dolls I bought for him, none of that would be enough to make up for all the shitty things I did to him. So the only right thing to do was to re—was to release him."

"Ken…"

"No, I'm fine. Really, I am. In fact, I shouldn't even be feeling bad about it because releasing him was the right thing to do. That green-haired man, everything he said made perfect sense. We call Pokémon 'partners' even if all we do is push them around. All we do is give them selfish commands when they're supposed to roam free and live peacefully. Ampere doesn't deserve any of that. Ampere doesn't deserve someone like me."

"But he did, Ken. He did deserve you. And he couldn't have asked for a better trainer than you."

"No, he d—"

"Yes, he did. Ken, I've served thousands of trainers in the Center, and I could tell you story after story of trainers who treat their Pokémon like shit. Those are the trainers that green-haired man was talking about. Those are the trainers whose Pokémon need 'liberating' or whatever.

"But you? Ken, you're the most caring person I know. The way you talked about Ampere—I don't see that much care from trainers often. In fact, I'd be lucky if I heal the Pokémon of a trainer as kind as you each day. And hearing you talk about how cruel you are or how Ampere doesn't deserve you—it just doesn't add up."

"Sal…"

"Ken, I won't tell you that what you did was wrong. It was your decision, and I respect it, and I'm sure Ampere respected it, too. But all this talk about being selfish and making him do shitty stuff—that isn't you, Ken, and I know you know it. If you think Ampere's happier being released, then sure, you know what's best for him more than I do. But don't think that you were some cruel master to him. I know you, and you aren't like that at all."

"But… But none of that matters anymore, right?"

"What?"

"None of that matters anymore. Like I said, I can't do anything about it now that it's happened, right?"

"Ken…"

"Right?"

"…Right."

"Right."

"Ken…"

"You better go back to the Pokémon Center, right? I've kept you here long enough."

"Hey… are you gonna be okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'll be fine. I'm fine. It's all okay."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Don't worry about me. Thanks for keeping me company, Sal."

"Don't mention it. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, see you."


End file.
